OSPREY…SWOOOSH

UO: Okay, so Nakama United's set is being fixed, now we can work with 2nd Magnolia. This chapter might be a bit dialogue heavy but for the upcoming battles it needs a proper set up. So Actor Check!

Lucy: So many clothes to change out of. Some of which was not willing.

Natsu: He's worse than Erza.

Erza: What was that?

Natsu: (Gulps) Nothing

Grey: Pulling triple duty will wear us out. Come on give us a break!

UO: I'm focusing on 2nd Magnolia until its done, then I don't know which story to focus on more than likely something in the RWBY fandom. Disclaimer before the set gets destroyed again.

Grey: UnitedOsprey1991 doesn't own Fairy Tail only the plot. He makes no money and wants to tell the story of his country's greatest conflicts through his own interpretation. He also means no disrespect to the dead or the men who defend our country.

Before the film could start, the set collapses.

UO: How in the…(Spots a red clad figure giving him a puppy dog look) Damn it. Starts the show.

Normal: Talk

Bold: Yelling

'Italics': Thoughts

Telegrams orders and locations and Time

Journal entries and letters

Chapter 13: Gearing up on the Oracion

January 19th, X1863, Crocus, White House

When we last left the Fiore Civil War, the Union had suffered a humiliating defeat in the Battle of Fredericksburg. Despite repeated orders to advance, General Macao Conbolt continued to delay in his efforts to take the town. When he finally committed to attacking the town, the forces were pushed back and the battle once again ended in a humiliating defeat for the Union General.

After taking a couple of weeks of recuperating, General Conbolt began to plan another offensive. This time using Calvary he would use about 500 to create a distraction at Kolby's Ford while he would send a thousand around Richmond and meet up with a force on the coast and come in from the south. Meanwhile, the main army would be creating a distraction to allow them time to congregate and attack the flank.

However, he would done in by conspirators within his own ranks as he had received a telegram essentially telling them not to move. The two generals in question were those that had it out for him in his old VI Corps. Brigadier General Ren Akatsuki and Major General Ichiya Kotobuki

Flashback January 9th

Ren and Ichiya had taken a leave of absence to "gather their thoughts," as they had told General Conbolt. In reality they were heading to Crocus to speak with members of the Armed Defense Committee. When they reached the capital they had realized that Congress was in Recess at the moment. They were now sitting in a local pub drinking while thinking of their next move.

"I cannot believe we forgot that Congress is in session," Ren said drinking his tea.

"This war has apparently addled my mind. And the worst part is because we just had a mid-term election, Congress won't have all of their members until March," Ichiya replied.

"We don't have time to wait until March. If Conbolt is allowed to command until March, we may not have a country anymore!" Ren growled slamming the table getting some of the patrons to look at them and then proceeded back to their drinks.

Ren looked out the window. "It's not like we know where a Congressmen is." He then widened his eyes and turned to Ichiya. "Sir, weren't you a Representative at one point?"

Ichiya nodded. "Yes. Before the war I represented New York. I still have some connections here in the capital. Perhaps we can get to talk with the President or at least the head of the Defense Department."

Ren agreed. Two days later, they were able to secure connections to get in touch with State Secretary William Seward. Through him, they were able to get in touch with the President. When they entered the conference room.

The president regarded them after they were served refreshments. "Now then, gentlemen, I believed you have something to tell me about?"

Ichiya and Ren looked at each other and then Ichiya began to speak. "Well sir, its about what General Conbolt is doing with the army. We believe that he's mishandling the army to the point that if we lose another fight, the Army of the Potomac will be shattered beyond repair."

Secretary Seward looked at the two generals. "That is all well and good but what evidence do you bring that supports this hypothesis."

The scheming Generals realized they didn't have any proof and turned back to the president. "We just want you to know there are some in the ranks that believe that General Conbolt is not leading the army correctly and we feel some "reviewing is in order," Ren told them.

The President did not get into the White House for being ignorant. In his long working career he had seen people lie about their superiors to get ahead. The military was one of those fields. He had seen promotions come across his desk and often they destroyed another man's career to get to where they were. He had a feeling this meeting was for the same reason.

"Gentlemen, I know you mean well. But don't take me for a fool. You want to get ahead. You want to be the head of the army at the expense of General Conbolt."

The two started to sweat, the president figuring their reason for being here. Ichiya decided to cover their tracks. "Sir, I mean this in the best way possible, we are not trying to undermine the authority of General Conbolt. We just want to make it known that he might have had issues with the Army of the Potomac's day to day running."

Lincoln closed his eyes in thoughts weighing his options. After a few moments, he opened his eyes and looked at the scheming generals. "I will look into it and bring General Conbolt in."

The two generals nodded and seeing they weren't wanted, they excused themselves. As they left the White House, Ren wanted to throw something.

"God above what the heck was that in there!?" Ren yelled. "You and I both know that that the infantry are nearing rebellion."

"You do not think I know this? I couldn't say that in front of the president," Ichiya responded. "For now, I believe discretion is the better part of valor."

The two generals headed towards their inn and prepared to head back onto the front lines.

End Flashback

Over the next couple of weeks, Lincoln had monitored the situation and then ordered General Conbolt to meet with him.

A knock on the door to the office brought his attention to it. "Enter."

The mustached visage of General Conbolt appeared in the door and closed. He snapped into a salute. "Major General Macao Conbolt, reporting as ordered." Macao took note of Secretary Seward and another elder man who gave off an air of superiority. This was Major General Henry Hallack. If President Lincoln was his Commander in Chief, then General Hallack was the second in command.

Lincoln motioned him to sit down. "General, I am glad you could join us. Please have a seat."

The embattled General took a seat. The president looked Macao. "It's come to my attention, that some within your ranks have raised some concerns about your leadership. In particular, two officers have told me about your supposed incompetence."

Macao stood up in anger. "WHAT!? Who are these Generals! I will have them Court marshaled for Insubordination!"

General Hallack nodded. "I agree. What these Generals are talking about is tantamount to reason. Do you have any idea who they could be General Conbolt."

"We aren't here to assign blame to anyone. The bottom line is, there is some disconnect between the top of the chain and the foot soldiers at the bottom."

At this Macao looked away in shame. "Sir can I talk to you alone?"

Lincoln nodded and asked Seward and Hallack to leave. When the two were alone, Macao sat down and put his head in his hand. "I didn't want this sir. But I had a duty to my country and I didn't want General Cracy to get the job."

The President said nothing and walked to the window. "I remember the night I got the message from what happened in Fredericksburg. I nearly had a mental breakdown when I read that at the opera. Somehow I stayed composed. What I need you to do is defeat General Lee without causing massive amounts of damage. I believe you are the man to do it."

Macao looked at Lincoln. "I can't do that with politicians handicapping at every turn. General Hallack and Secretary Stanton have been opposed to this war from the start. The nation doesn't need them to win the war and should be dismissed!"

Lincoln turned around. "What about your plans to take Fredericksburg?"

Macao sighed and sat down. "I was going to attack using several feints North and South of the town. But if its as bad as these traitors think it is, I may as well resign my commission."

Lincoln walked over to the man and placed his hands on the general's shoulder. "I urge you to reconsider leaving the army. Perhaps moving you to another department will take your mind off this."

"Perhaps sir," General Conbolt told him as he walked out of the room. General Hallack and Secretary Seward to come in."

"Mr. President, who will take over on the Eastern Front," Seward asked. "The only one who could lead now would be," Seward began.

"General Byro Cracy. I know William. He is not my first choice either but if we are to win here in the East we need someone willing to attack. General Cracy might be that choice."

"But sir almost all of the upper lever officers hate him, how can he possibly rally the troops?" Sweard asked.

"Secretary he will have to do until we find a better commander. Who knows what he could do. More importantly, we need to keep the Democrats from forcing us to confirm these rebellious states as a nation," General Hall

Seward reluctantly agreed. President Lincoln had rode the support of the entire Northern part of the country and the two western states to the White House, part of the reason why he feared the Southern States separated. That support also meant that his Republican Party had control of both Houses and wide support in the North.

Two years can make a lot of difference. With the war not ending as quickly as the public had hoped, support had begun to fade and the Northern Democratic Party had begun to gain momentum in most of the Northern strongholds that the Republicans had gained. Not helping matters was a recession, rumors of corruption in many aspects of the government, fears of the newly freed blacks, higher taxes and the suspension of the writ of Habeas Corpus. This one was something Lincoln had reluctantly did and imprisoned those dissenting against the war. It may have been dishonest, but as they were considered in a state of war, he had the right to terminate people and throw them in jail without a trial.

All of this had an impact in the polls. Even though the Republicans maintained control of the delegations with the exception of New York, their share of the seats in the House and Senate dropped. In the House, they went from 58% of the seats to 46% including the previous Speaker. The reason why the Democrats did not have control of the house was a set of 24 Democrats broke from the party and aligned with the Republicans. These War Democrats were confident that the war would end soon with the Union defeating Edolas.

"That is not the only issue, the Midwest could easily break away considering the South still has the Oracion River," Seward told the two men.

Here President Lincoln smiled and General Hallack frowned. "Ah yes, the Oracion River. How is that campaign going on?"

Hallack sighed. "As much as I hate General Connell, he has done tremendous work on the Oracion River. Last I heard he was making his way down to Vicksburg."

The Oracion River was considered the heart that that held the Confederacy together. Originally set as the Western border in the fledging country in X1793, it launched the westward expansion with the purchase of the Landsea Territory from Francium X1803 Within a couple of decades, this river, one of the largest in the world served as the blood for everything between the two mountain chains, the Hakobe Mountains in the East and the Ur Mountains in the west. Everything from iron made in the factories in the Midwest, to the cotton made in the south, everything shipping related used this river to go all over the world, especially Europe.

In the Anaconda Plan outlined by the former General in Chief Winfield Scott, the blockades in the Atlantic would be complimented by the capturing of the Oracion River and cutting off the supply route for the South. With support from Europe not all my negated, the river was the next target in their unification plan. Unlike the battles near the capital, from what Lincoln had gathered the War in the West was more successful. With two forces, one coming from Enca and the other from New Orleans, the Union had taken the majority of the River by this point. But the toughest battle laid ahead.

Vicksburg, Oracion was a small town on the banks of the Oracion River. Despite its size was the lynchpin on the entire river. From where it sat, the Confederacy could use the Red River to shuttle cattle food and manpower from the West. If Vicksburg fell, the whole river would fall to the Union.

But it was not easy. The town sat high on a bluff and overlooking a horseshoe bend in the river. From there cannons could fire on any boats that came from the North and the South. In the areas surrounding the city, the flood plains created a network of swampland that was nearly impossible to navigate for several miles around especially in the winter when the water levels dropped. All of these factors gave Vicksburg the nickname the Gibraltar of the Oracion.

The mission was clear for both Generals Connell and Dreyer. If this fort and the fort at Port Hudson were to be captured, Edolas would lose its primary highway to the rest of the world and would be squeezed to death like a noose. This would also cut the Confederacy in two, taking Landsea, Scalia, Orpheus, most of Oracion, Enca and the western part of Sabretooth away from the Confederacy, taking manpower and supplies away. But with the constant threat on the capital, the victories may proof moot if it fell.

"General Connell is making progress. I believe within a few months, the river shall be ours. Progress is slow due to the river levels. Hopefully the floods will be benign this year."

"We can only hope. Anyway, General Hallack I want you to take this message personally to General Cracy."

Henry nodded and left. Lincoln sighed. "This war will be the death of me, William."

"Let us hope it is not the death of our country," Secretary Seward told his boss.

End of Chapter:

UO: Sorry not as much battling this time, cause I want to save that for the next chapter. Also wanted to get this out for Memorial Day. But this will set up at least the next two chapters.

Preview: General Cracy takes command of the Union and confronts the Confederates again. But will the victory come at a steep price? Find out next time as the war heads to its iconic battle.

Next Time: Pyrrhic Victory: Chancellorsville

Next update will be Nakama United.

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OSPREY…SWOOOSH